18 Mart 2012 Pazar

Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Turkey make their mark in Africa

Keyur PATEL The Financial Times

The
Bric countries are making headlines in Africa but when it comes to
doing business there are plenty of other emerging economies that are
also digging deep into the fast-growing continent.
Standard Bank highlights the EM 10 – ten emerging economies that have
seen their trade triple in the last decade to $330bn. The big four are
the Brics, with a $250bn share in 2011, but the remaining six states
between them account for a full $80bn – and are seeing their activities
grow faster than the Brics.
The six states include two African nations, Nigeria and South Africa,
which is a bit of a cheat. The others won’t come as a surprise to
beyondbrics readers - Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Turkey.
But it’s worth noting how diverse Africa’s trade is becoming.

Standard Bank analyst Simon Freemantle wrote in a research note on Friday:

"The BRIC thesis, while neatly encapsulated in a powerful
acronym, has become increasingly insufficient in explaining the broad
sweep of new partnerships Africa is forging in a postcrisis world. Other
large, fast-growing and dynamic emerging markets are increasingly
partnering Africa’s commercial reinvigoration"

“Insufficient” might be a bit of a stretch. Standard Bank’s research
shows that China, India and Brazil make up more than three-quarters of
Africa’s trade with the EM 10 – China alone accounts for almost half.
(Russia, by comparison, is relatively small).

Sources: COMTRADE Standard Bank Research

The EM 10′s combined growth in trade with Africa has been meteoric – especially when compared to the US and the European Union.

Sources: COMTRADE Standard Bank Research

Most
of that rise is down to the Brics, of course. But Africa’s trade with
the other six economies is expected to be worth around $80bn in 2011 –
not very far behind its trade with the US. Nigeria’s trade with rest of
Africa grew seven-fold over the decade, Turkey’s grew four-fold, and
all 10 saw trade with Africa swell at a faster rate than Africa’s
overall trade growth.

Why these 10 countries in particular? Freemantle picks out two main reasons:

Firstly, based on strong domestic growth and increasing
internationalisation, these ten economies are playing a greater role in
shaping the globe. And, secondly, a common strand in each of these
country’s respective advances has been the importance placed on
deepening commercial and strategic ties with Africa.

Nigeria and South Africa have also benefited from being fellow
African countries – the two produce just 5 per cent of the EM10′s total
output, but account for 11 per cent of Africa’s trade with the group.
Saudi Arabia might seem a surprising choice, especially as its trade
with Africa is only modest at present. But Freemantle points out that
the Kingdom’s enormous foreign exchange reserves, at $550bn, will
increasingly be invested in African markets – “based largely on the need
to secure new sources of agricultural production”.

Also last year, Turkish home appliances maker Arcelic agreed to buy
South African company Defy Appliances for $327m; while last
month, Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas group PTT put in a $1.8bn bid for Cove Energy,
the oil and gas explorer focused on Mozambique, and India’s state
energy groups – ONGC and GAIL – said they were considering a bid. Their
rival is Royal Dutch Shell. How’s that for an old world/new world tussle
over Africa?